Method of shaping bonnets



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UNIE AES CHARLES \V. RUSSELL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF SHARING BONNETS.

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, C. IV. RUSSELL, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedMethod of Shaping Bonnets, &c.; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l, is a side elevation of my invention.Fig. 2, is a front elevation of ditto,

and Fig. 3, is a plan or top view of the same.'

Similar letters of reference in the three views indicate correspondingparts.

The usual method to form or shape bonnets, hats, etc.. of an old patternaccording to the new fashion is to place the same on the block of thenew shape in order to ascertain what alterations are necessary. Thebonnet or hat is pressed by the hands close to the block and those partsthat do not t are separated by scissors or a knife and temporarilysecured by pins, till the bonnet or hat assumes the shape of the newblock. It is now taken off and resewed.

The object of my invention is to do this work not only quick, but alsoVery perfect in all cases; and my invention consists in ressing andretaining the bonnets on the lock by means of a cord which is woundseveral times and in different directions over the crown and body of thebonnet and which is retained in its position by a hook on the back partof the block and by a series of hooks attached to a strip of cloth whichis drawn over the front part of the bonnet, so that each part of thelatter is forced up tightly to and retained on the block, where it isleft to dry until it assumes permanently the new shape.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe it.

A represents a block on which a bonnet or hat is to be shaped. On theback part of this block there is a hook a, which may be permanentlyattached or which may be secured to another hook b, that hooks over thelower edge of the block as clearly shown in Fig. l. I prefer this lattermethod of attaching the hook a, as it can be used in this case fordifferent blocks. A hook c, similar to the hook Z), hooks over the frontedge of the block, and secured to this hook is a strip C, of cloth orany other flexible material which extends from the bottom up over thefront of the block to its top as clearly represented in Fig. 2. Thisstrip is furnished with a series of hooks a, which are fastened to thesame at convenient distances.

The bonnet B, is placed over the block and the strip C, is drawn up overits front side as clearly represented in the drawings. A cord is nowsecured to the upper one of the hooks d, on the strip and it (the cord)is drawn over the center of the crown and down to the hook a. Bystraining this cord with one hand those partsv of the bonnet immediatelyunder the cord and under the strip are kept close up to the block. Thetip of the bonnet is now pressed flat down on the top of the block withthe other hand and the cord is wound over the hooks cl, and over thehook a, as clearly represented in Fig. 3, those parts of the cord whichpass over the tip being kept at small distances apart so that the wholetip is kept down on the top of the block.

In t-he same manner the body of the bonnet is pressed up to the blockwith one hand while the other hand winds the cord around it and thehooks d, as shown in Figs. l and 2, until the whole bonnet is forcedclose up to the block. It is now left to dry and after this the cord istaken off, when the bonnet retains its new shape so that it can bepressed and ironed in the usual manner.

There the material of which the bonnets or hats are made is Very stili'land if the same differs considerably from that of the block, it isnecessary to place small sticks across the tip, as clearly representedin Fig. 3, in red outline, in order to keep the same close down on thetop of the block, while the other part of the bonnet is broughtto itsproper shape. By the aid of this method all sorts of bonnets or hatsfrom the stilfest Leghorn7 down to the softest parts of the bonnet andWhich is retained in its position by hooks a and d, or their 10equivalents, substantially as herein specified.

CHAS. W. RUSSELL.

Witnesses:

R. S. SPENCER, WM. TUsoH.

